Power & Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats
Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual, and Stephen John Stedman
The twenty-first century will be defined by security threats unconstrained by borders—from economic instability, climate change, and nuclear proliferation to conflict, poverty, terrorism, and disease. The greatest test of global leadership will be building partnerships and institutions for cooperation that can meet the challenge.
Power and Responsibility describes how American leadership can rebuild international order to promote global security and prosperity for today’s transnational world.
Power and Responsibility establishes a new foundation for international security: “responsible sovereignty,” or the notion that sovereignty entails obligations and duties toward other states as well as one’s own citizens. Governments must cooperate across borders to safeguard common resources and tackle common threats.
Power and Responsibility argues that in order to advance its own interests, the United States must learn to govern in an interdependent world, exercise leadership through cooperation, and create new institutions with today’s traditional and emerging powers. The product of a collaborative project on Managing Global Insecurity, the book also reflects the MGI project’s global dialogue—extensive consultations around the world as well as discussions with the MGI Advisory Group, composed of prominent U.S. and international figures in world affairs.
The Authors
Bruce Jones is director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and formerly served with NGOs and the United Nations in Rwanda, Kosovo, the Middle East, and New York.
Carlos Pascual is vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution and a former special assistant to President Clinton and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Stephen John Stedman is senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and a former assistant secretary general and special adviser to the secretary general of the United Nations.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Javier Solana
Foreword by Brent Scowcroft
Part I. Power
1. Sovereignty’s Last Best Chance
2. Interests and Order: The United States and the Major and Rising Powers
3. Power and Institutions: An Effective International Architecture for Responsible Sovereignty
Part II. Responsibility
4. Arresting Climate Change
5. The Second Nuclear Age
6. Security in the Biological Century
7. Managing Civil Violence and Regional Conflict
8. Combating Transnational Terrorism
9. Strengthening the Pillars of Economic Security
Part III. Order
10. The Hardest Case: The Broader Middle East
11. Urgency and Choice
Reviews
“The aim of the Managing Global Insecurity project is to launch a reform effort of the global security system in 2009. That task is both ambitious and urgent. . . . The time to act is now.” Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
“Power & Responsibility analyzes the threats that surround us, but does not yield to the temptation to despair. It rightly points out that in a world of problems without passports, our security and prosperity depend on unprecedented international cooperation, and that such cooperation is in our reach. By accepting that sovereignty incurs responsibilities and by strengthening international institutions, governments can create an international order in which all can be safe and thrive. This book makes a compelling argument for such an approach.” Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations
“The vision, ideas, and solutions the authors put forward in this book have the potential to redeem American foreign policy.” From the foreword by Brent Scowcroft, Former U.S. National Security Adviser
“I salute Power & Responsibility for undertaking the challenging endeavor of strengthening and improving our current means of international cooperation. This book sets a platform from which to take forward the vital agenda of restoring American leadership and creating a more effective international system.” Madeleine K. Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State
“Offers timely, relevant, and responsible advice on America’s future foreign policy. The authors address our need to strengthen our alliances and forge relationships based on common interests.” Chuck Hagel, Former U.S. Senator (R.-Neb.)
“An essential guide to the critical decisions we must make to create a world where all people are secure and can prosper. ” William J. Perry, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
More About Power & Responsibility
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A Plan for Action: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond »
Power & Responsibility on Huffington Post, March 16, 2009.
"Changing how we address global and national security"
By Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual and Stephen Stedman
Power & Responsibility on Huffington Post, March 30, 2009.
"Barack Obama Joins the Group of 20"
By Scott Malcomson
Power & Responsibility on Charlie Rose, April 23, 2009.
"U.S. Foreign Policy and Barack Obama"
Charlie Rose, Carlos Pascual and Brent Scowcroft
Read Stanford Report article on the MGI Plan for Action »